I. Field Of The Invention
The subject harness retainer stud is used generally to retain wire harnesses of conduit to an automobile body panels.
II. Description Of The Related Art
Examples of similar retainer studs are found in the prior art and are best described by referring to the following patents owned by the Click Bond Company, which is a division of Physical Systems, Inc., U.S. Pat. No. 4,302,492, U.S. Pat. No. 4,338,151, U.S. Pat. No. 4,390,576 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,668,546.
These references generally describe a method and apparatus for adhesively attaching self-fixturing studs or other elements to a surface (support 36 in the U.S. Pat. No. 4,302,492). The stud is mounted upon a support member which is movable between two positions. After an adhesive is applied to the stud, the support member is temporarily mounted to the surface with the stud in a first position that is out-of-bearing engagement with the surface. The support member is then moved to a second position to place the stud in bearing engagement with the surface, and a force is applied to the stud, urging it toward the surface. The support member is removed and discarded after the stud has bonded to the surface.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,660,546 discloses a method for rapid installation of support stud members through the use of automated or semi-automated power tool equipment. This requires a plurality of support members interconnected to each other by a breakaway runner, item number 60 in FIG. 11 of the U.S. Pat. No. 4,660,546. The automated equipment then applies the adhesive to the stud and uses a punch-press to install the support members on the surface and to press the stud into bearing engagement with the surface. The surface is carried past the installation machinery by a conveyor.
The prior art studs contain three deficiencies which are overcome by the present invention. First, these studs require the application of adhesive at the point of assembly. Secondly, the prior art studs require the application of pressure during the adhesive bonding stage. This requires the additional structure of the support member. Thirdly, once the adhesive has bonded, an additional step of removing the disposable support member is required. The manner in which the subject invention overcomes these deficiencies is described below.
The installation method disclosed in the prior art requires that the surface, onto which the stud is mounted, be moved past the punch-press. This limits the usefulness of the installation method. As will be described below, the present invention allows the stud to be moved to a location remote from where the stud is fed into the automation equipment. This allows the stud to be mounted onto interior surfaces of automobile body panels which cannot be accessed by the punch-press used in the prior art.
These four prior art patents are hereby expressly incorporated into this description by reference.